Instinct's Info: For anyone that somehow gets firmly attached to this story by the end of this chapter I have bad news. The updates for this story will be slow because I need to be meticulous with what happens in it. I will most likely have to go back at some point and change chapters so things aren't messed up farther in so I apologize beforehand. Please review this story as I would really like feedback and will most likely need it.
Disclaimer: I only own Avatar in a parallel universe run by gerbils.
One Year After Sozin's Comet
Chapter One: Glimmer
"Well that could have gone better." Aang groaned after a particularly arduous meeting with more world leaders than he thought possible.
"What were you expecting?" Zuko asked rhetorically, "Every nation's armies were decimated by the end of the war. It makes sense that they'd want to rebuild them."
"But they're going to be bigger than they were even before the war started! Bringing peace and balance to the world doesn't need weapons."
"You can't blame them. We're all weak right now and a small attack could cripple any of us."Zuko countered the tiniest flare of anger in his voice.
"You're no better than them! Yours is the second largest!" Aang shot back, his frustration surfacing.
"Everything I've done is for defence. Just because I'm the Fire Lord doesn't mean that there aren't people that would like to get rid of the Fire Nation."
"But that's the problem. Every nation is worried about getting attacked and it's spurring the others to one up them." Aang had hit the nail on the head. The new Earth King in Ba-Sing-Se had unintentionally started the arms race when Long-Feng had disappeared. Convinced he wasn't done trying to take the throne he'd reshuffled everyone around him to make sure they were all loyal to him and him alone.
Next had come the re-arming of Ba-Sing-Se. The Earth King's relations with either Water Tribe were less than exemplary so he counted them as a possible threat that Long-Feng could use. The Fire Nation was also a prime candidate since Long-Feng had collaborated with them to take the city in the first place. Worried that a he might strike to eliminate a non-existent threat the Water Tribes started beefing up their forces. As much as Zuko would like to show that the Fire Nation was truly reformed under him he couldn't risk letting someone come in and tear it to pieces so he'd started to rebuild his army as well.
The whole arms race generated more paranoia which in turn fuelled the race even more. Although Zuko knew what was happening he was powerless to stop the arms race which left Aang as the only one who could. He was making little progress despite his position of the Avatar and all the distrust shared between Fire Nation and everyone else.
"How goes the battle for peace?" Sokka asked as he came through the door to the throne room. Mai, Katara, and Suki followed him in. Evidently they'd been waiting for the meeting to finish up.
"Same as last time, no one listens." Aang answered sullenly.
Katara sat down beside Aang and give him a quick peck on the cheek, almost to get his attention, "Don't lose hope. At least they're not fighting." He looked at her, the hope rekindled in his eyes and a smile on his face.
"You know the easiest way to solve this problem is, don't you?" Sokka asked, glancing at everyone to see if he was the only who saw the solution. No one seemed to, "Catch Long-Feng." He said after a second.
"That's easier said than done. He didn't leave any leads when he disappeared, not even any of the Dai-Lee knew." Zuko said, trying to see if there was more to Sokka's plan.
Surprisingly it was Suki who spoke up, "I've been here some people talking about a new immigrant around here. He has an odd oversized birth mark on his left leg and he's from the Ba-Sing-Se."
"That could be plenty of people." Zuko answered, hoping they were wrong. If he was here then it might be all the reason the new king would need to attack.
"Shaved forehead with a moustache and goatee?" Sokka was smiling, as almost everyone was by this point.
"This is great! If we catch them there won't be a reason to make any more weapons!" Aang flew out of his chair and landed on his feet, his smile now almost splitting his face.
"No it's not!" Zuko shouted, everyone's ignorance angering him, "If anyone finds out that it is him we'll be attacked! Even if we arrest him and hand him over they'll think its part of a plan."
Aang grimaced a little but the smile remained, "Toph can vouch for you and anyone else they suspect."
"None of you thinking this through. What is he doing here at all?" Mai asked from beside Zuko, a brief flash of annoyance on her face.
That gave everyone a moment's pause in which the doors opened again and a messenger ran in, "Fire Lord Zuko. The mental health facility has been broken into." The temperature seemed sub-zero despite the fire around the throne. That was where Azula was.
Kei finished cutting her hair. It irked her slightly that she had to mangle it so, but it was the only way she'd look the part. She looked in the mirror a last time to see if she could make herself look insane. Once she knew she could she walked out of the little cave in the ground and towards the rest of the group.
"Girls and their appearance; this is the one time I can see why it takes so long." Jet muttered as he saw her approach.
"The messenger should have arrived by now." Everyone's gaze snapped to the earthen chair and the teenager that occupied it, "We don't have much time left. Kei, you'd better get in there unless you want to meet Reido. Even I'd avoid that if possible." She nodded her head and turned towards the metal building behind them.
Besides the signal fires burning on the roof it didn't look that troubled. Kei ran to the hole at the base of its wall and jumped down. Hopefully she could portray someone with a shattered mind. A few minutes later and something was thrown out of the wall. It looked like a bag at first, but it wriggled around too much to be one. Three other men jumped out of the hole and hauled the man in the strait jacket to his feet and dragged him so he was in front the teen in the chair.
"Hello Reido, my name is Naise." It was spoken calmly and quietly. Senseless noise answered him.
"I can let you do whatever you want." Silence was immediate from the man in the strait jacket, "All I ask is that I can give you a little direction."
"Okay, we have a deal." It was spoken rather quickly, but extremely articulately.
Naise stared at him for a long time before saying anything else, "Untie the jacket. There're clothes over there for you."
Reido continued to stand where he was after he had use of his hands again, "You trust me already?"
"I don't need to." Naise answered calmly. He got out of the chair dropped a letter at Reido's feet and walked towards a cluster of people.
"Come on, we're leaving." This earned him a few strange looks from the others.
"What about Azula? She's the reason you came here in the first place." It was Long-Feng who'd spoken and it had been with a strained voice. He liked her no more than he had when she'd snatched the throne from him.
"We got her out already. She's waiting for us in a secure location." Naise answered. He continued to walk into the darkness. Jet and Long-Feng followed him into it.
Behind them the ex-mental patient Reido finished pulling on the clothes and opened the envelope Naise had left. He'd hated it in that institute, it'd been better than the alternative though. If he'd been thrown in jail he'd have been eaten alive. Blowing up a few schools did that to people.
He looked at the first set of instruction on the paper: Kill everyone that broke you out directly.
Instinct's Info: A lot of questions I know. They'll be answered eventually. Please review, I would love to know what you think.
